Currently, there are a variety of devices that can sniff/monitor a network path to determine the packet traffic on a portion of a network. These devices are called “sniffers”, network analyzers, and the like. Their purpose is to help diagnose and troubleshoot a network. Typically, a network analyzer is used to passively monitor a network by bridging a network path. The packets that the network analyzer sees on the network path are displayed to a technician to help diagnose the network. When a network analyzer passively monitors a network path, a network address is not needed because the network analyzer does not send packets.
Network analyzers that are capable of sending packets are configured with a unique network address in order to send packets on a network that originate from the network analyzer. The unique address is used to communicate with other devices. Configuring a network address in a network analyzer can be difficult, time consuming, and expensive. For example, if the network uses static addresses, the network analyzer has to be configured manually. If the technician enters the wrong IP address, configuration errors can occur. In cases where network addresses are limited, using a network address for a network analyzer may not be an option. If the network uses Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), the network analyzer must support DHCP in order to be configured dynamically. In addition, the DHCP addresses may be provided only to requesting devices where their MAC address has been entered into a database for the purpose of security, thus adding an extra layer of administration.
Other systems such as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0021680 disclose a method for tunneling packets in order to send the packets across the network. However, tunneling has the same problem: the sending device must be configured with a unique network address in order to tunnel and send a packet across a network. The problem with these systems and methods is that they do not provide a way to configure a network device (network analyzer) to send packets that originate in the network device without using a unique network address for the network device.